Conservatives up heat on GOP

State's potent third party accuses Republicans of selling out on principles

Jimmy Vielkin, Times Union

By Jimmy Vielkind

Published 9:58 pm, Sunday, January 27, 2013

Attendees at The Conservative Party Political Annual Conference (CPPAC) listen as Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform addresses them during at the Holiday Inn on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Attendees at The Conservative Party Political Annual Conference...

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform addresses those gathered at The Conservative Party Political Annual Conference (CPPAC) at the Holiday Inn on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform addresses those...

Wendy Long, background at podium, addresses those gathered at The Conservative Party Political Annual Conference (CPPAC) at the Holiday Inn on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Albany, NY. Long ran against incumbent Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand for the U.S. Senate seat and lost. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Wendy Long, background at podium, addresses those gathered at The...

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform addresses those gathered at The Conservative Party Political Annual Conference (CPPAC) at the Holiday Inn on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform addresses those...

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform addresses those gathered at The Conservative Party Political Annual Conference (CPPAC) at the Holiday Inn on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform addresses those...

State Senator Kathy Marchione addresses those gathered at The Conservative Party Political Annual Conference (CPPAC) at the Holiday Inn on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

State Senator Kathy Marchione addresses those gathered at The...

State Senator Kathy Marchione makes her way out of the room after addressing those gathered at The Conservative Party Political Annual Conference (CPPAC) at the Holiday Inn on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013 in Albany, NY. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

COLONIE — "Why don't you ask your Republican leader to stop being such a doormat," the angry conservative from Long Island, Edmund Farrell, said from the audience.

"Thank you," Kathy Marchione, the freshman senator from Halfmoon, said through a forced smile. "I'll pass that along."

Unhappiness with the Senate Republicans is the not-so-subtle subtext of the Conservative Party's political action conference this year, a two-day affair in which loyal members of the potent third party gather at the Holiday Inn for a series of speeches and chatter.

There are now 30 Republicans in the 63-seat state Senate, but they still control operations and legislative agenda in the chamber due to an alliance with six Democrats, five of whom comprise the Independent Democratic Conference.

While the arrangement is still new, leaders of the IDC and GOP will be negotiating major legislation with Democrats who dominate the state Assembly and Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Republicans say this gives them a seat at the table, and many Republican senators can still vote against bills they don't like. Such was the case with a recent gun control bill, which passed the Senate with 11 Republican and 32 Democratic votes.

Conservatives say this is selling out, and worry the Republicans will take a similar approach on Democratic proposals on raising the minimum wage, using taxpayer money to match small donations to political campaigns, codifying abortion rights into state law and allowing casino gambling.

"They have to be very cautious as the year moves forward on how much legislation comes out of this coalition. It could be very costly to them in the long haul," said Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long. "It erodes their base, and they have to be mindful of the fact that while they lost the majority, the 30 Republicans that were elected were elected by constituents who want to elect Republicans and want them to act as conservative Republicans."

On Sunday, speakers spoke of the need to stand true to principle. Grover Norquist, from the national group Americans for Tax reform, said that compromise was often a euphemism for Democratic victory.

"People telling you about the good old days of bipartisan compromise are really telling you how old they are," he joked.

New York law allows third parties to either run their own candidates or cross-endorse major-party figures, and the Conservative Party line is a critical buttress for many Republicans. Long's statement was as much a prediction as a threat: the Conservative Party last year backed challengers to two Republicans who defied their wishes and voted to legalize same-sex marriage. Both were forced from office.

Marchione, was one of the candidates they backed, ousting Saratoga Sen. Roy McDonald in a Republican primary. She was welcomed at the conference as a conquering hero, and this year was the only Senate Republican afforded a speaking slot.

Marchione voted against the gun bill, but said she supports Skelos.

"I think Senator Skelos has some severe difficulties now with having less Republicans than Democrats. I think he did well with the IDC. I'm new in the conference, and yes, I supported him and I'm going to continue to support him," she said. "I'm one voice, I'm one vote ... I do bring strong ideology to the seat where I'm sitting, and that's just me."

While the Conservatives and Republicans recognize there will always be tension between pure ideologues and political pragmatists, but there's also symbiosis. Skelos will address the conference's concluding dinner Monday night, and Niagara County Sen. George Maziarz sponsored a cocktail reception for the Conservatives on Sunday.

"We agree with the Conservative Party on far more issues than we disagree, and the vast majority of their members understand that. Over the last two years, we've passed two early budgets that cut spending, enacted a property tax cap, eliminated the MTA payroll tax for small businesses and started to rebuild New York's economy. None of those things happen without the leadership of Senator Skelos and the Senate Republicans," said Skelos spokesman Scott Reif.

And Long said he hoped things would work out. "My goal is get the Senate Republicans back into the majority," he said. "But that won't happen if they come down on the wrong side of issues."